Doing the Work to Address Homelessness

This week the City’s Homelessness & Poverty Committee, co-chaired by Councilmembers Huizar and Harris-Dawson, focused on housing, a critical component in addressing the City’s homeless issue. At Wednesday’s meeting, the committee, which also includes Councilmembers Bonin, Cedillo and Price, instructed City staff to develop recommended action steps on a variety of housing strategies, including:

To integrate the many kinds of housing assets in the City, from emergency shelter to permanent supportive housing, in order to improve long-term outcomes for homeless residents;

To respond to federal shifts in funding priorities by pursuing “rapid re-housing” and “bridge housing” as pieces of long-term housing for the homeless; and

To contribute toward a pool of “move-in” funds, which go toward current obstacles to housing for the indigent, such as security deposits or application fees.

Since the committee’s establishment in June as an ad-hoc and later as the City’s first fully dedicated committee addressing homelessness, Councilmember Huizar and the committee have made a number of recommendations toward creating a six-month plan, budget and timeline so that the City of Los Angeles can begin to get a handle on homelessness, which has risen 12% across the City and County. It is leading efforts to:

Start the “Winter Shelter” program early to provide extra shelter options during El Nino rains.

Expand services across the City, including locations where homeless can store limited amounts of property instead of keeping it piled on the sidewalk;

Make more effective the City’s rules around impoundment of homeless property on the street while protecting the rights of people experiencing homelessness;

Deploy 10 new teams of outreach workers to assist in getting people off the streets; and

Fully implement the Coordinated Entry System (CES), which is a central tracking system that identifies high-needs homeless and better aligns homeless individuals with the appropriate housing and services available.

Doing the Work to Address Homelessness

This week the City’s Homelessness & Poverty Committee, co-chaired by Councilmembers Huizar and Harris-Dawson, focused on housing, a critical component in addressing the City’s homeless issue. At Wednesday’s meeting, the committee, which also includes Councilmembers Bonin, Cedillo and Price, instructed City staff to develop recommended action steps on a variety of housing strategies, including:

To integrate the many kinds of housing assets in the City, from emergency shelter to permanent supportive housing, in order to improve long-term outcomes for homeless residents;

To respond to federal shifts in funding priorities by pursuing “rapid re-housing” and “bridge housing” as pieces of long-term housing for the homeless; and

To contribute toward a pool of “move-in” funds, which go toward current obstacles to housing for the indigent, such as security deposits or application fees.

Since the committee’s establishment in June as an ad-hoc and later as the City’s first fully dedicated committee addressing homelessness, Councilmember Huizar and the committee have made a number of recommendations toward creating a six-month plan, budget and timeline so that the City of Los Angeles can begin to get a handle on homelessness, which has risen 12% across the City and County. It is leading efforts to:

Start the “Winter Shelter” program early to provide extra shelter options during El Nino rains.

Expand services across the City, including locations where homeless can store limited amounts of property instead of keeping it piled on the sidewalk;

Make more effective the City’s rules around impoundment of homeless property on the street while protecting the rights of people experiencing homelessness;

Deploy 10 new teams of outreach workers to assist in getting people off the streets; and

Fully implement the Coordinated Entry System (CES), which is a central tracking system that identifies high-needs homeless and better aligns homeless individuals with the appropriate housing and services available.